Stanford, Florida Lead Five College Football Questions for Week Five

Unlike many of the expected big college football matchups in 2010, the Alabama-Arkansas game lived up to the hype. The Razorbacks played quite well in the first half, but a very determined Crimson Tide came out after halftime ready to win. They gave the ball to Mark Ingram and let him do work. Meanwhile the defense stepped up and made the plays they needed to win the game.

As we enter the portion of the season where conference play is now the rule instead of the exception, the games become bigger and wins and losses mean more. The neat thing is that the five games I chose to focus on in week five represent five different conferences. Here are the five questions I’m looking forward to getting the answers to on Saturday:

Will Mark Dantonio lead the Spartans to a victory over the Badgers?

5. Will the return of coach Mark Dantonio inspire Michigan State to beat Wisconsin at home?

Michigan State is 4-0 after four home games with one good win over Notre Dame. Less than two weeks after a heart attack, their head coach Mark Dantonio will return, likely coaching from the Spartan Stadium coaching box against Wisconsin. The Badgers are also 4-0 against a pretty weak slate. This is an important game for the Spartans if they are going to have a successful season, as they will play Michigan, Iowa and Penn State all on the road.

4. Is North Carolina State for real?

The Wolfpack looks like they may be the cream of the crop in the ACC. But that may just mean they are the least rotten egg in the carton. They have a 4-0 record and are 19th in the nation in passing yardage and scoring. There’s even been whispers about quarterback Russell Wilson joining the Heisman race. We’ll have a much better idea of how good N.C. State is when they take on Virginia Tech on Saturday. Although the Hokies suffered a terrible loss to James Madison, they still may be the most talented program in the conference.

3. Will Texas make up for last week’s loss by beating Oklahoma?

Texas football suffered a major reality check last weekend, playing very poorly in losing to UCLA at home. Now they have to get ready for the Red River Rivalry game with Oklahoma before heading to Nebraska the following week. The Longhorns should have no trouble getting up for this big rivalry game against the Sooners. Texas can pay the favor of having their national championship hopes ruined forward by doing the same to Oklahoma. The Sooners are coming off a way to close two point win over Cincinnati that was proceeded by a three point win over Air Force. Oklahoma was considered a sleeper national championship contender before the season but they will clearly have to pick their game up to get there.

2. Can Stanford take control of the Pac-10 by beating the Ducks at Autzen Stadium?

The Cardinal have come out of nowhere and look like a very serious challenger for the Pac-10 crown. Potential #1 NFL draft pick Andrew Luck has orchestrated the Stanford offense brilliantly, they are fourth in the country in scoring. On the other side of the ball the defense has been much better than expected and is 12th in points allowed. But the road to the Pac-10 title goes through Oregon and Stanford will visit Autzen Stadium on Saturday night. The Ducks have been just as impressive as the Cardinal, leading the nation in scoring and ranking third in points allowed. Stanford beat Oregon at home last year behind a 223-yard, three touchdown effort by Toby Gerhart. This could be the game of the year.

1. Is Florida capable of taking down Alabama?

The Gators started the season on questionable ground but have seemed to settle down over the last two weeks, scoring SEC wins over Tennessee and Kentucky. Neither of those contests can really be counted as big tests, certainly not to the level of Alabama. The Crimson Tide have picked up right where they left off last year and are coming off a strong win over Arkansas. Mark Ingram was back in Heisman form racking up 157 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries against the Razorbacks. Florida and Alabama have met in the last two SEC Championship Games, with each school getting a win and then going on to win the National Championship.

What matchup are you most looking forward to this weekend? Who do you like to win the big games? Let me know in the comments section below.

Ed, no doubt VT will be a big test for the Wolfpack. I think you are right on about getting the lead and keeping the crowd in the game. State’s defense needs to keep up their steady play and the linebackers need to contain the Hokies running game, no matter who is in the backfield.